


with eyes like sapphires and rubies

by stuttervoice



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, M/M, this au is one where everyone has an ability but things are normal enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:03:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5998030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuttervoice/pseuds/stuttervoice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akashi meets a dying boy in a park, and somehow, he ends up staying by his side from then on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	with eyes like sapphires and rubies

**Author's Note:**

> _“And[I found](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj6V_a1-EUA) love where it wasn’t supposed to be.”_

The first time Seijuurou meets Kuroko Tetsuya is out of sheer luck. The latter is normally too busy caring for his ailing grandmother, participating in school, and selling off gems to be bothered for anything else. However, they meet precisely because of the third reason—Tetsuya had been trying to peddle his wares.

Seijuurou can clearly remember deciding to leave the showcase early—his father, a famous jewelry designer, had been holding a showcase for his latest collection. The formalities were over with already, so Seijuurou didn’t have a reason to stay for the after-party. Instead, he decided to head to the park a few blocks down.

There, he met Tetsuya, who needed to sell his last sapphire of the day. It was quite the meeting, of course, since anyone who meets Tetsuya would be caught off-guard.

Precious stones are sprouting out of his body, after all. 

To put it simply, Tetsuya had been born with an affinity for rocks, whether they are diamonds or sandstone. Even when he sneezes, different gems would scatter, which, of course, made him a target for greedy people. Because he also has a low presence, he managed to dodge most of his stalkers. He can conjure whatever he wants as well, as long as he has the energy.

It is common for someone with this ability to have one or two rocks (usually precious stones) to be growing out of their body. It’s a side-effect of the ability. But when that person uses their ability too much, they’re exposed to a disease that causes more and more stones to grow from their body, usually becoming larger the worse the disease is. You’d think it wouldn’t be a problem, but when one pops up in their lungs, heart, or eyes, you begin to realize just how much of a problem it is.

Tetsuya was—is—afflicted by the disease. Due to how many times he conjured stones to sell, he became exposed, and then caught it. When Seijuurou first met him, the first thing he noticed was that he had a ruby in his right eye socket. It was…

Intriguing, but undoubtedly for Tetsuya, it was painful.

Seijuurou had bought his last sapphire out of a sort of pity for the sick teen, but he soon learned that the money would go to his ailing grandmother’s care instead of his own. Seijuurou didn’t necessarily want to help Tetsuya, but the next time he ran into him, he ended up buying a pink diamond from him.

When Seijuurou explained where he got the sapphire and diamond, his father was relatively dismissive. He would use them so the money didn’t go to waste, but he wasn’t fond of people who could conjure stones. Seijuurou didn’t—and still doesn’t—know why.

One day, Seijuurou had been visiting Tetsuya in the park when the other teen glanced at a well-dressed woman passing by. “Hm.” Tetsuya was looking at the diamond necklace she was wearing, a strange intensity in his eye that Seijuurou hadn’t seen before.

“What is it?” Seijuurou had asked out of mere curiosity. While he could deduce the reason on his own if he put some effort into it, he was feeling particularly relaxed and didn’t see the harm in asking Tetsuya what he saw.

“That woman’s necklace was fake—costume jewelry,” Tetsuya commented, plainly, as he turned back to the box in which sat a couple of diamonds he was trying to sell that day. Seijuurou had raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh? And what makes you so sure about that?” Truthfully, Seijuurou could tell it was fake as well, due to growing up in the business, but he was curious how someone like Tetsuya, who didn’t have extra funds for extravagancies, could tell.

Tetsuya looked at him, clearly wondering if Seijuurou was pulling his leg or not. “I create gems,” he said, flatly. “Is it not obvious that my ability also lets me know when a gem is fake?”

This had interested Seijuurou. “Can you now?” He mused.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re getting worse,” Seijuurou observes, eyeing the sizable chunk of diamond jutting out of Tetsuya’s shoulder. Tetsuya says nothing, but his slowed movements and the way he sometimes wheezes when he breathes says enough. He’s clearly running out of time.

“My grandmother is getting better,” Tetsuya finally offers, as if that’s some sort of consolation. Seijuurou hums noncommittally, looking at Tetsuya’s empty box. He’s gotten so weak that he barely managed to conjure three stones today, all of which were sold to some lucky man. (Lucky, because Tetsuya doesn’t charge nearly enough for his stones. Seijuurou has tried to fix that, but his acquaintance is foolish.)

Tetsuya is no longer going to school, since his condition is so abysmal, but he still comes to the park to sell things so he’ll be able to pay the bills. Admirable but foolish. That’s just like Tetsuya, he’s learned.

Seijuurou sighs, and stands to leave. Tetsuya stands as well, preparing to return to the hospital where his grandmother stays. How the doctors can see how Tetsuya is dying but do nothing to help is something Seijuurou understands but it is still an injustice. They won’t help him just because he doesn’t have the funds to cover the treatment? _Money really does make the world go round._

They exchange parting pleasantries and then are on their way. Upon arriving home, Seijuurou notices that his father is in, so he decides to bring his proposal to him.

Tetsuya is by no means his friend, and Seijuurou has no particular attachment to him, but he is valuable in Seijuurou’s opinion. A rock conjurer does not come around every day, and to have one indebted to him? It would be worth it to pay for his treatment so he doesn’t die. All he needs is his father’s approval.

However, as he mentioned before, his father is not fond of rock conjurers. “Just let him die,” his father scoffs, not even bothering to look up from his tablet. “The benefits you claim we would reap are unneeded. You are wrong about our benefiting from this. My answer is no, and I don’t want to hear about him again.”

Seijuurou accepts this, but his shoulders are stiff. Tetsuya may not be his friend, but his father just told him he was wrong.

He is always right. It seems his father needs to be taught that.

 

* * *

 

 

They can’t rely on Tetsuya to make enough gems to pay for his treatment, so Seijuurou decides to put to use another aspect of his ability—the one where he can discern whether a gem is real or not. Seijuurou could do it as well, but Tetsuya will be faster, so Seijuurou begins to drag him to every secondhand store he can find, showing him every piece of jewelry or gem he can get his hands on.

The thing about secondhand shops is that sometimes people don’t realize how valuable something is and they sell it off. And then, it ends up here. So, it isn’t surprising when Tetsuya begins to find genuine gems among ‘costume jewelry.’ Seijuurou buys the ‘costume jewelry’ for cheap, and then he sells it off at a much higher price, since it’s genuine. Slowly but surely, they begin to accumulate money.

“This is nice of you,” Tetsuya says one day, cheeks dotted with tiny pink diamonds like stars dusted across his skin. He still smiles, although just barely. Seijuurou doesn’t answer him, letting Tetsuya believe that he truly is a ‘nice’ person.

For both of them, it’s better this way.

And then, the students at his school dare to comment on the situation. “Does the poor kid even know he’s a charity project?” Eikichi snickers, dismissive, as he twirls a basketball on his finger. Reo and Koutarou glance at Seijuurou out of curiosity; Chihiro ignores them entirely, too busy reading another light novel.

Seijuurou exhales, glancing at Eikichi out of the corner of his eye. “What do you think?” He asks, rhetorically, before he moves on without them.

_As long as he keeps thinking I’m doing this out of the ‘goodness’ of my heart, he’ll stay. I don’t care if he later finds out I plan to use him after the treatment is done. His feelings mean nothing to me._

 

* * *

 

 

Tetsuya is getting weaker every day.

Seijuurou still needs more to cover the treatment. Despite how much he has made, he still needs more to cover the initial payment, and the doctors won’t start the treatment without that. He doesn’t tell Tetsuya this because there is no reason to, but Seijuurou knows that they need to make money faster.

Seijuurou could just transfer money out of his father’s account even though he technically isn’t allowed to, or he could dig into his own savings, but he doesn’t. He wants to do this by himself without relying on his background, and even if it isn’t the ‘right’ thing to do because Tetsuya is dying, he will keep doing this. Besides, Tetsuya will live for a while more, so Seijuurou isn’t jeopardizing him yet.

With that, Seijuurou begins to look for things to sell on his own, and every day he gets closer and closer to the goal. He feels a twinge of excitement.

He wonders what his father will look like when he realizes that _he_ was the one who was wrong.

As Seijuurou reviews the funds he’s already collected, a thought crosses his mind. This treatment is absurdly expensive, so surely, some people who contract the disease must perish because they couldn’t afford the treatment. Or, they could afford the initial payment, but they spent a significant amount of time on paying off the rest of the bills.

But how many casualties have there been?

He brushes those thoughts away. Medical things are Shintarou’s specialty.

 

* * *

 

 

Time crawls.

Tetsuya’s fingers are coated in rubies, and diamond dust has settled in his lungs. He’s exhausted, barely keeping up with Seijuurou anymore, so the latter has to adjust his pace so Tetsuya doesn’t fall behind. It is possible that one day Tetsuya won’t show up, and if that happens, that means Seijuurou has failed and miscalculated. That he was _wrong._

Of course, he won’t allow that to happen. Tetsuya _will_ live—he’ll make sure of it.

He ignores how sad Tetsuya looks these days.

“My father once asked me to conjure three blue sapphires for my mother,” Tetsuya brings up one day, very suddenly. Seijuurou doesn’t look up from his notes, but he hums to indicate he’s listening. “He was going to use them to make a necklace for her. I conjured the stones, but he didn’t come home that day.”

Seijuurou lifts an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Tetsuya nods, his eye glassy and faraway; although, Seijuurou doesn’t look up to see that. “Mhm. He died in a car accident. A couple days after that, my mother committed suicide.” He smiles, but it’s miniscule and weak. “I suppose it’s romantic, in its own way,” he tacks on in a voice that matches his smile.

Seijuurou doesn’t look at his face, but he glances at the rubies coating his fingers. “So it is.” And the conversation ends as abruptly as it began.

Another day, and once more, the case of Tetsuya is brought up. “How’s your charity project coming along?” Chihiro mutters, barely interested. He’s probably just bothered that he’s the only one left in the locker rooms with Seijuurou. However, the topic he picked is one Seijuurou doesn’t want to talk about.

Oddly, something in Seijuurou snaps, and he leaves without another word.

He doesn’t like the sound of those words anymore, and he can’t fathom why.

 

* * *

 

 

Finally, the goal has been almost reached. If Seijuurou sells these pink sapphire earrings, he’ll have enough money for the initial payment, and it isn’t a moment too soon. Any day now, Tetsuya will die. 

“Stay here,” Seijuurou commands, not that Tetsuya has a choice. Tetsuya is wrapped in blankets, huddled up on a bench in the hospital, and he nods slowly, his throat ringed by layers of topaz. Seijuurou hesitates for just a moment before taking off.

He doesn’t have to think very hard to decide who he wants to sell this to. He thinks that it would be the best kind of irony if this particular person buys it.

He corners the head surgeon for the department that handles diseases caused by abilities, and he sends him tumbling to the floor. Seijuurou closes his eyes briefly before opening them again, his left eye aglow with golden light. “You _will_ buy these,” he orders, opening his palm to reveal the earrings. Entranced, the man pays for them, and then Seijuurou releases his hold on him, allowing the doctor to crumple backwards.

Seijuurou allows himself to grin wickedly. It’s been a while since he had the opportunity to use his ability.

He leaves the doctor behind to recover his wits, and he heads back to Tetsuya. He hasn’t traveled too far, so it won’t take long to get back to him. Soon, Tetsuya will be better, and Seijuurou will show his father that he was the one who was wrong. And when Tetsuya begins to get better, then Seijuurou won’t have to constantly be thinking about whether or not he will live.

However, when Seijuurou arrives at the benches where he left Tetsuya, he’s gone. He blinks slowly, feeling something build within him.

Anger, yes. But there’s something else, too.

Because his blankets are scattered around the floor.

 

* * *

 

 

_Half the people who die and are afflicted with Tetsuya’s disease don’t die because of it. Half of them die because people grab them, and saw off their valuable stones carelessly. Once the stones are removed, they don’t bother to patch them up, and they die of blood loss._

It’s a statistic Seijuurou learned not very long ago. He had taken precautions to prevent this (keep him in a public area, stay with him as often as possible), but he should have expected this. In a way, he did, but he is not happy that he has to rescue Tetsuya before he dies to the disease or whoever kidnapped him.

He doesn’t bother with security cameras or trying to track Tetsuya’s phone. Instead, he climbs to the roof of the hospital and surveys the city with his ability activated. Heat signals pop up in his vision, indicating where people are, and he picks apart what he sees until he finds Tetsuya’s familiar levels in a warehouse not far away. The kidnappers didn’t want to go too far and risk Tetsuya worsening or dying, then. There appear to be three of them, so the numbers are in Seijuurou’s favor.

He takes the stairs since it will be faster, and he sprints out of the hospital, sending whoever stands in front of him to the ground. Unlike Tetsuya’s poor stamina, Seijuurou has the best stamina you can find, so he isn’t even fatigued from how often he’s used the different aspects of his ability tonight.

He identifies three different entrances to the warehouse, and one skylight. He takes the back entrance, ducking behind a box and checking on the situation. They haven’t sawed off any of Tetsuya’s stones yet, and they seem to be arguing over something. _Two men, one woman._ Tetsuya is leaning against a box, looking barely aware of what’s happening. Seijuurou needs to rescue him and get him back to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Upon further examination, Seijuurou notices they’re unarmed except for a single briefcase which contains the saw they plan to use to cut off Tetsuya’s stones. Considering that the briefcase is resting atop a box that’s at least five meters from the nearest person, these people either thought no one would come to rescue Tetsuya or they’re complete amateurs. Perhaps a mixture of both.

After pulling on his gloves, Seijuurou manages to sneak up to the box the briefcase is resting on, and he pulls it down when no one is paying attention. He resists the urge to scoff. Really, they didn’t think this through at all. He unlocks the briefcase and takes out the saw, testing its weight in his hand. When he’s sure he’ll be able to use it to defend himself if needed (which he doubts), he stands and clicks his tongue.

“You three are perhaps the most foolish people I have ever met,” Seijuurou notes, startling all three kidnappers. Ignoring their surprised and angry shouts, he points the saw at them, forcibly shutting them up. “I’ll spare you three this time, but I think you should know better than to cross me again.” Seijuurou activates his power once more, entrancing them, and orders, “Sleep.” All three fall over in a heap, clearly unconscious. Seijuurou sends out a tip to the police for their whereabouts and puts the saw back into the case. Taking off his gloves, he walks over to where Tetsuya is, noting that the kidnappers neglected to use bindings because that’s just how weak Tetsuya is right now.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” Seijuurou mutters, lifting Tetsuya up into his arms. It’s a bit tricky because jagged lapis lazuli is growing out of his back, but Seijuurou manages to find placements for his arms.

Tetsuya blinks languidly at him, and Seijuurou wonders if he even knows what’s happening anymore. Either way, he begins the journey back to the hospital, walking as fast as possible. “Don’t…” Tetsuya wheezes, voice hoarse and weak. Seijuurou almost falters in his steps, but he recovers and looks down at Tetsuya with a raised eyebrow. They must make quite the sight. A dying boy in the arms of a designer’s son. “Don’t… care… but…” Every breath sounds like a death rattle to Seijuurou’s ears, and that can’t indicate anything good. He begins to run, even though he wants to take his time and find out what Tetsuya is trying to say.

He has an inkling as to what it is, anyway. _He’s looked sad for quite some time now._

Nevertheless, he silences him. “Quiet, Tetsuya. You’re just making yourself weaker. Whatever you have to tell me, it can wait.”

Tetsuya’s only eye, unmarred and surprisingly beautiful underneath the bright lights of the city, shines with an emotion Seijuurou doesn’t know. His breaths are getting slower. Seijuurou grips Tetsuya with bruising force when he notices. He wants to tell him not to die on him _(don’t you dare be like my mother),_ but he can’t force the words past his lips. He runs faster.

Everything is a blur after that. He knows he forced Tetsuya onto the first doctor he could find, demanding that they treat Tetsuya and save him before it’s too late. He takes care of the paperwork and pays for Tetsuya’s treatment, and then he sits down on a bench in the waiting room, memories echoing in his head of sitting here all those years ago.

He is beginning to realize what exactly is at stake here.

His shoulders drop, and he lowers his head.

_I was wrong this time._

 

* * *

 

 

Seijuurou isn’t a coward.

Despite everything, he still visits Tetsuya as soon as possible. Details he doesn’t care for were just thrown at him—all he needs to know is that Tetsuya survived the surgery. There is a chance he could still die because he isn’t out of the woods yet, but Seijuurou is confident Tetsuya won’t die.

He’s not the type of person to give up that easily.

Hooked up on all sorts of machines, Tetsuya doesn’t make for a pretty sight. He has bandages wrapping all around his body, as if he’s some sort of mummy, and he looks so pale that one could question the heart monitor that indicates he is, in fact, still alive. Seijuurou takes a seat next to Tetsuya’s bed, examining the bandages covering Tetsuya’s right eye. They say they took out the ruby during the surgery. Personally, Seijuurou had liked the ruby, but it must have caused Tetsuya pain.

Idly, Seijuurou wonders what it was like to have his eye replaced by a ruby. The process must have been agonizing.

The only stones left are the ones Tetsuya naturally had before and the pink diamonds dusting his nose and cheeks, because they’re so tiny that they don’t cause pain and are difficult to remove. Seijuurou can’t help but smile at that. The diamonds look good on Tetsuya.

Seijuurou lifts his hand to touch Tetsuya, but he hesitates, and then he lowers his hand again. He decides to say what he’s come here for, even though Tetsuya isn’t awake—after all, it’s possible he can hear him, isn’t it? “I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through, Tetsuya. I was wrong to be stubborn and insist on doing this on my own,” Seijuurou sighs. “Perhaps you’ll forgive me. Perhaps not. Either way, I am being honest when I say that I’m grateful to have been able to stay at your side for all this time.”

Tetsuya doesn’t wake up. He doesn’t move. But Seijuurou feels something shift in the air, anyway, and he smiles in spite of being surprised. Tetsuya is the only one that can make him feel this way.

“Thank you, Tetsuya.”

 

* * *

 

 

They do not magically become friends. The distance that Seijuurou has maintained doesn’t shrink in a single day. Tetsuya says nothing of how Seijuurou had not put Tetsuya’s life before his own pride, but the way the recovering teen looks at him sometimes tells him that he hasn’t forgotten that.

But, when Tetsuya first wakes up, Seijuurou stays by his side while he recovers and continues to be treated so the disease doesn’t return. When Tetsuya asks for an eyepatch instead of wearing the bandages all the time, Seijuurou gives him a black one with a skull design on it. It doesn’t make him look tough at all, but Tetsuya likes it.

It’s not your conventional relationship, but Seijuurou prefers it that way. He knows that Tetsuya does, too. Seijuurou’s life has become centered around Tetsuya, even though he’s always told himself not to let such a thing happen.

But maybe that was his father’s voice all along, because he doesn’t mind this at all.

Seijuurou isn’t so arrogant to say that Tetsuya’s life has become centered around him, but he is at least a significant part of it. He wants it to stay that way for as long as possible. Maybe he’s gotten soft. Then, he supposes Tetsuya is just his weak point. He knows how to protect those, so he doesn’t care.

“Akashi-kun,” Tetsuya pokes him in the shoulder to get his attention. When Seijuurou turns to him, he finds Tetsuya smiling softly and holding a watch encrusted with diamonds and rubies in the palm of his hand. “These are the stones I’ve made during therapy. I thought you might like them, since you’re the reason I’m still alive today.” He holds it out to Seijuurou, encouraging him to accept it.

Seijuurou stares at the watch for a moment. During Tetsuya’s therapy, he’s been working on conjuring stones again to test if he’ll contract the disease again if he uses his ability. So far, it doesn’t look like he’ll ever contract the disease again unless he overworks himself all at once. Seijuurou hadn’t realized that Tetsuya was keeping the stones he conjured. He should have known better.

Seijuurou smiles, letting out a soft sigh. “You’re always doing things I don’t expect,” he clicks his tongue, making Tetsuya’s smile falter. He takes the watch, wrapping it around his wrist and buckling it with ease. It’s an analog watch, something he appreciates. It looks better with the jewels. “Thank you, Tetsuya. I’ll treasure it.”

Tetsuya smiles again, and the sun’s rays slant at that moment to make the pink diamonds on his face shine. Seijuurou credits the sun for that moment, and he brushes his fingers over the tiny diamonds. He can barely feel them, and Tetsuya’s eye follows his hand’s movement, a question forming there. Seijuurou stares at Tetsuya, and somehow, he finds it hard to believe that he’d nearly died just a short time ago.

But he knows that it’s the truth.

“Tetsuya,” he murmurs, making the other look up at him again. His stare is unwavering. “After you get out of the hospital, allow me to take you to dinner to make it up to you.” _Even though I know it isn’t enough to fix what I did, it is enough for now. I won’t use you for my benefit, either._

A bit of hesitation creeps into Tetsuya’s face, but he smiles, a tiny, trembling thing. “Your treat?” He asks, voice light even though it’s quivering a little.

Seijuurou indulges him with a chuckle. “Of course.”

Tetsuya nods, and Seijuurou realizes that his hands are still on Tetsuya’s face. When he starts to remove them, Tetsuya catches his wrists, and then his smile widens just a little. That emotion is in his eye again. “I’d love to, then. Thank you for staying by my side for all this time, Akashi-kun.”

Seijuurou is caught off-guard, but he closes his eyes with a smile soon afterward. _So he did hear, after all._ “I’m glad that I did.”

He seals their conversation with a kiss to Tetsuya’s forehead.

_I still won, in the end._

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for the wysv event on tumblr
> 
> if you’re wondering what Akashi’s ability is, well of course it has to do with his eye, and yes, it’s always been like that. As for his father, I thought designer fit more with where I was going with this than businessman.
> 
> the first scenes are Akashi remembering how he met Kuroko, so it’s in past tense, and then I switch to present tense when he goes back to the present. I thought I’d clear that up since I myself think it’s weird.
> 
> I know the kidnapping is?? rather anticlimatic but idk Akashi’s op as usual and he wouldn’t allow me to drag it out and torment poor Kuroko even more
> 
> I just realized how misleading the summary is lOL it seems so simple reading it but no. tbh this was supposed to be a pretty dark story but I don’t think it’s nearly as dark as I hoped it would be. I guess I’m just... not cut out to be that kind of writer...
> 
>  honestly the idea first started out with akkr robbing jewelry displays but somehow evolved (or maybe devolved) to this. don't ask me how bc I don't know
> 
> ~~btw did the forehead kiss at the end make up for the angst? no? ok~~


End file.
